Cooking on the Front Burner: February 2011

Chicken with Olive-Tomato Sauce

Here is the meal I cooked for the family on Saturday night. Have made it a couple times and I love that the chicken becomes very moist (you can shred it if you want). Click here for the recipe.

Preparing the chicken:

My helper Kristina:

Tomato mixture:

2 1/2 hours later:

4 Star rating....

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Dinner for the Family...

This weekend we went to Kristina and Benj's to help with a project. I brought up fixings and dessert for dinner since both K&B are working crazy hours as CPA's and also invited Danielle and her boyfriend. Before leaving home on Saturday I made Peanut Butter Pie. This is a recipe from my friend Anna when we lived in NY. I have never typed it up and work off this copy that I've had for about 20 years (in Anna's handwriting): Printable recipe here

I also drizzle hot fudge and garnish with chopped peanuts...this is 5+ stars!

Before dinner was happy hour - a Red Wine Sangria recipe from Sandra Lee and fire roasted feta dip from the Rochester restaurant called Nupa

This dip is to die for! A friend brought it to our Super Bowl Party... caution - it is super addicting. Serve with pita bread

Dinner was Chicken with Olive-Tomato Sauce - watch for that post tomorrow. Must get my chores done now so I can watch the Oscars!

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Friday Night is Pizza Night

Friday night we have pizza about 90% of the time. We have it: 1) delivered, 2) homemade, 3) go out, 4) or semi-homemade which is what I did tonight. Trader Joe's sells fresh pizza dough - I was skeptical but now impressed!

I used store bought ingredients and added basil, garlic powder, oregano and crushed red pepper to the sauce... it was too bland for our taste

Dough from Trader Joe's

I cook pizza on a stone that I have in pre-heated oven at 450 degrees (after it comes up to temp I do not add the pizza for at least an additional 20 minutes. It's a tip I read to make sure the stone is really hot.) Since you must slide the dough from the paddle to the stone - use corn meal so it slides off without a hitch.

I stretched the dough first on my floured big board and once it has the right shape, transfer it to the paddle and add your ingredients.

The mozzarella seemed real soft so I cut into slices instead of grating and added a little grated romano too

Next I slide in on the stone

Finished product - cooked for 14 minutes

It was really good and I would use the TJ's dough again. But next time I would read the directions a little better. It was suppose to sit on counter for 20 minutes at room temp before using. My pizza is smaller and thicker so it is more sicilian style! Still dee-lish! 4 stars!

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Coq au Vin (quick version)

Back to cooking tonight. I have made this recipe twice now and both times it turned out really good... John said we can't give everything 5 stars so we are giving this 4... but we both went back for seconds! A printable recipe can be found here.

Getting started:

Next the carrots

Then dice the bacon

Chicken(after cooking):

Saute the vegetables:

Seem to be going through a lot of wine lately so needed to open a new bottle:

Adding wine mixture:

Simmering with the chicken and the flavors are really melding here:

Dinner is served:

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"Dessert"

I admit, I have a sweet tooth after eating dinner. I finish eating and then immediately look for something to end the meal with.... these usually do the trick:

Can you guess what they are???

I keep them frozen in the freezer... good for a quick fix!

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"Fig"uring out Dinner

Tonight was a new recipe that I found through the MyRecipe site. Click here for a printable recipe

Rosemary-Fig Chicken with Port

Chicken that is pounded will cook more evenly...so get at it!

This handy tool is really called Shredding Scissors that I found at the Container Store in Edina. A few months later I saw them pop up at Crate & Barrel

Here is the finished product - 5 stars from John!

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Leftovers...

Tonight we had leftovers from Saturday - Mexican Chicken Casserole. The first night we gave it 3 stars but found it tastes better after it sits a day or 2... so now it is 3.5 stars! Click here to get the recipe

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Snowed In

Today we had snow, sleet and more snow. A good day for Beef Barley Soup. I love soup and John does too but he can't give it more than 4 stars... which is the highest rating soup can get :-)